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The lonely house stood silently in the middle of an overgrown field. Never to be visited, never to be lived in. The garden once used to be full of flowers, which now lay dead upon the frozen ground. Next to the front door, sat a murky pond, full of sand, mud and dirt. The rusty fence that surrounded the house had a sign that was hanging on with one battered nail, which said,The Black HouseRumours were often told that evil and wicked witches used to live in this house centuries ago, but it wasn't true. At least part of it wasn't. No one knew the truth."Mum! I'm going to the park with Maria, Ahmed and Bilal!" Shouted Aisha from her room."Alright!"Mother yelled back. Aisha was a ten year old. She had a twin sister called Maria and an older brother, Ahmed, who was eleven. Bilal was their friend. He was the same age as Ahmed, and together, the four had lots of fun.Aisha and Maria went outside. They walked to the park and met Ahmed and Bilal at the gates. We greeted each other."The plan worked, let's go," Said Bilal.Aisha had lied on purpose. They weren't actually going to the park. All four of them were going to investigate and explore The Black House.That was because last week they had missed the bus and had to walk to school. When they passed The Black House, a bright flash had come in one of the cracked windows. Then a strange face which had disappeared as suddenly as it had come. This got the four children very curious.They hurried down the lane and across the corner. As they walked through the dark alleyway, Aisha whispered,"Are you sure about this?" asked Aisha quietly. Ahmed and Bilal nodded. Aisha glanced at Maria and she looked a bit scared. They crept on. The sun was down. The moon out. Everything was bathed in silvery moonlight. They had reached the end of the alleyway. They could see the towering house standing on the ground. At night, the shadow of the house loomed across the field, making it hard to see.Aisha and Maria gripped each other's hands. They very scared, but they wanted to find out more about what was going on. Ahmed and Bilal were looking determined, but had frightening flickers in their eyes. The four crossed the field, huddling tightly together. The silvery grass reached up to their knees, grazing their ankles. The four approached the front door. Their hearts were racing and they were clutching each other more tightly than ever.Even Bilal, the bravest of them all, was trembling as he stretched his hand slowly and turned the doorknob. But before his fingers could reach it, the door opened of its own accord.